Venetian blind structure



April 5, 1943- H. J. EHRENFELD 2,315,605 y VENETIAN BLIND STRUCTUREFiled June 29, 1942 Patented Apr. 6, 1943 UNITED STATES lPATENT oFFlcEvaNa'rmN BLIND s'rBUc'rUnE Hugo J. Ehrenfeld, New York, N. Y.

Application June 29, 1942, serial No. 44si925 (ci. 1eo114) 4 Claims.

The present invention is directed to window shades, more particularly tothose of the Venetian blind type. v -2 Venetian blinds as heretoforeconstructed consisted of a series of slats hung upon ladder web and soarranged that the same could be lowered to cover thewindow. If it wasdesired to shut out light, the slats were tilted, but in such tiltingventilation was cut oil, which was highly undesirable. Also, because theladder web had a tendency to stretch due to the weight of the slats, ina relatively short time the tilting of the slats did not close out thelight, even though it rather effectively shut of! ventilation.'I'herefore, such Venetian blinds were disadvantageous in such respects.

The present invention is intended and adapted to overcome suchdisadvantages and to provide a window shade of the Venetian blind typewhich may be placed in such a position as to shut off substantially alllight' while atithe same time allowing free access of air and a fullmeasure of ventilation.

It is also among the objects of the present invention to provide astructure which, in a novel manner, allows light to passthrough the samewhen desired, the blind at the same time being capable of being placedin such a position as to still allow the ventilation while shutting oil?the light. i

In the accompanying drawing constituting a part hereof and in which likereference characters indicate like parts:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a Venetian blind made inaccordance with the present invention, some parts being broken away forclearness;

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view thereof taken along the line2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 1 showing the Venetianblind in another position, wherein light is allowed t-o pass through;

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional View taken along the line 4-4 oi'Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the means for holding theslats in relative sence oi' the present invention that the inner orconcave side of each slat be coated with a material which will absorblight. In one embodiment of the invention a black lacquer having a mattefinish is sprayed or brushed onto the inside of each slat. In accordancewith the present invention there are other features which differ fromthe prior art. The blind is capable of being placed in severalpositions, in one of which it is completely raised as heretofore. Inanother position, it is completely open, whereby light may pass throughthe same. In still a third position, which may be termed an intermediateposition, the spacing of the slats is such that no light passes throughthe same, but there is sufficient open space between adjacent slats sothat air will freely circulate therethrough.

With reference to the drawings, vthere is shown a window frame I havinga Venetian blind of the present invention hung therein. Facings 3 areprovided at the sides of the blind in order to prevent light fromfiltering past the ends thereof. The side of the facings adjacent theblind may be painted with matte black.

Each of the slats 4 is parabolic in cross-section and has a lining 5 oflight-absorbent material of any desired type or kind. It may be acoating placed thereon, or it may be formed as part of the slat itself,or it may be a suitable fabric or other material cemented or otherwisesecured thereto. The slats are placed in such a position that the apexof each slat points upwardly.

The lowest slat 6 has a block 'I tted therein to act as a weight, andcords 8 are secured at 9 in block 1. Said cords pass upwardly throughcircular openings I0 which are slightly larger than the diameter of thecords. The upper ends II of said cords pass through a recess in upperblock I2 of the Venetian blind and are adapted to be manipulated in awell known manner to raise the slats into nesting position. Tapes I3 andIl, usually of narrow woven fabric, are secured to the sides of block I2and are secured to each of the slats in any suitable manner, as bystaples I5.

One of the topmost slats I6 has secured thereto cords Il which pass intothe recess of block I2 and then outwardly to one of the sides oi' theblind to be manipulated as described below.

A ilat spring I8 having a`shoulder I9 at the upper end and a laterallyextending' portion therefrom is secured at 20 along the side of each ofthe slats at the apex thereof.

Assuming that the blind is in the uppermost,

position, with all of the slats nested at the top of the window, withcord I'I in its uppermost position, all of the slats are nestedtogether. If it is desired to fully open the blind so as to allow bothlight and air to enter, cords 8 are loosened and the weight of block 'Ipulls the entire structure downwardly until it assumes the positionshown in Figs. 3 and 4. It will be noted that the topmost slats I6 arestill nested, so that at 2I the tapes are in folds. The apex 22 of eachslat is below the lower edge 23 of the next higher slat. Thereby, aclear space is provided so that rays of light, indicated by arrows 24and 25, pass through the blind freely, thus providing light. The spacingbetween adjacent slats is extremely large so that there is practicallyno obstruction to thevpassage of air through the same and thus perfectventilation may be obtained.

If it is desired to shut out all of the light, but still allowventilation through the Venetian blind, the latter is manipulated intothe position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. This is accomplished by releasingcords I1, allowing slats I8 to separate, and the folds 2l to flattenout. Each of the lower slats 4 comes in contact with shoulder I9 ofspring I8 and is held in such position. As .shown more particularly inFig. 2, the apex 22 of the slat is above the lower edge 23 of the nexthigher slat. 'I'his effectively cuts off all light as seen from thearrows 21, 28 and 28 representing rays of light entering the blind atvarious angles. No matter what the angle is, the light, whether director reflected, contacts with the light-absorbent surface of the slats andis completely absorbed. The lower part of tapes I3 and llbecomessomewhat folded, as shown at 26, in this operation. With particularreference to Fig. 2, it will be seen that while there is someinterference with the flow of air, in the main, the distance between theslats is still maintained and free ventilation is effected. When theVenetian blind is again raised to its uppermost positions, the forceapplied to cords 8 will, because of the form of spring I8 as shown inFig. 5, cause the latter to be forced out laterally and thus there is nointerference with the nesting of the slats.

From the above, it will be seen that my invention provides a Venetianblind which operates quite diierently from the prior art structures,even though resembling the same at first glance. There is no longer thedisadvantage of shutting off ventilation when one attempts to shut on.light and light may be shut oir perfectly, something which could not beaccomplished by prior structures.

This type of construction is particularly advantageous where blackoutsare in force. The blinds may be closed so completely that no light froma room will pass outwardly, while at the same time giving all theventilation which is desired. In such blackouts, or more particularly,during air raids, it is desirable that the Windows be open. Even ifopen, the Venetian blind may be held firmly in place by means of facings3 and hook 38 on the block 'I which cooperates with eye 3| on windowframe I. There are further advantages in 4that it is now no longernecessary to tilt the blind in order to shut ofi' light and themanipulation required for operating the present blind in all of itspositions is extremely simple. 'I'he mounting of the Venetian blind issimpler than th'ose of the prior art and less hardware is required forthe various cords used. Whereas in prior structures each of the slatshad to have a 'I6 slot of considerable width which tended to allow lightto come in. in the present invention because there is no tilting, only acircular opening is necessary, which is in such a position that it doesnot allow light to pass through. The curved convex surfaces of the slatscauses the light that impinges thereon to be dispersed and therebyreduces the amount of light falling on a unit area of thelight-absorbent surface thereof and renders the absorption of light moreeffective. The term "parabolic as used in the claims includes curvaturessimilar thereto, such as hyperbolic.

Although I have described my invention.,Y setting forth a singleembodiment thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatvarious changes in the details of construction may be made. Forinstance, instead of a surface coating 5 such as is described above,coatings of various other materials and types may be used to accomplishthe present result. Springs I8 may be replaced by equivalent mechanicaldevices or, in some cases, may be omitted, particularly if the blind isto be used only for blackout purposes. These and other changes may bemade in the details of the invention, the scope of which is defined inthe claims appended hereto.

What I claim is:

1. A Venetian blind comprising a series of parallel slats, each of saidslats being parabolic in cross-section, the concave side of each slathaving a light-absorbent surface so that light from the outside andreflected from a slat is absorbed, the apex of each slat beinguppermost, tapes secured to said slats for holding the same in relativealinement, and a cord passing through said slats for drawing said slatstogether to raise said blind, the spacing of said slats being such thatin closed position they nest and in an open position the apex of oneslat is within the parabolai of the adjacent slat, means for holdingsaid 4 slats in said open position, means attached to the uppermostslats only for drawing the latter into nested position and for furtherseparating the rest of said slats so that the apex of each is below theparabola of the next higher slat.

2. A Venetian blind comprising a series of parallel slats, each of saidslats being parabolic in cross-section, the concave side ofv each slathaving a light-absorbent surface so that light from the outside andreected from a slat is absorbed, the apex of each slat being uppermost,tapes secured to said slats for holding the same in relative alinement,and a cord passing through said slats for drawing said slats together toraise said blind, the spacing of said slats being such that in closedposition they nest and in an open position the apex of one slat iswithin the parabola of the adjacent slat, and in a further open positionsaid apex is below said parabola, means for holding said slats in saidopen position, means attached to the uppermost slats only for drawingthe latter into nested position and for further separating the rest ofsaid slats so that the apex olf Sach is below the parabola of the nexthigher s a 3. A Venetian blind comprising a series of parallel slats,each of said slats being parabolic in cross-section, the concave side ofeach slat having a light-absorbent surface so that light from theoutside and reflected from a slat is absorbed, the apex of each slatbeing uppermost, tapes secured to said slats for holding the same inrelative alinement, and a cord passing through said slats for drawingsaid slats together to raise said blind, the spacing of said slats beingsuch that in closed position they nest and in an open position the apexof one slat is within the parab- 'ola of the adjacent slat, and in afurther open position said apex is below said parabola, spring means forholding said slats in said first open position.

absorbed, the apex of each slat being uppermost,

tapes secured to said slats for holding the same in relative alinement,and a cord passing through said slats for drawing said slats together toraise said blind, the spacing of said slats being such that in closedposition they nest and in an open position the apex of one slat iswithin the parabola of the adjacent slat, and in a further open positionsaid apex is below said parabola, spring means for holding said slats insaid first open position comprising a spring attached to the end of eachslat and adapted to contact the adjacent slat.

HUGO J. EHRENFELD.

